In unrelated news, Travel Weekly‘s editor is celebrating International Coffee Day with a Frank Body scrub experience, three ristrettos and a few chocolate-coated coffee beans.

Game of Thrones tweet wins big for Air New Zealand

Over the weekend Air New Zealand was awarded at the Spike Asia Creative Awards by winning six trophies for its ‘Bring on Winter’ tweet to Game of Thrones’ creator George R.R. Martin.

With the end of Game of Thrones, fans were hungry for news about the next instalment in the book series, The Winds of Winter. To help Martin gather inspiration to complete the series, Air New Zealand invited the author south to finish his remaining novels across the ditch.

In a coded tweet, written in fictional High Valyrian, the airline tweeted:

“Everyone really wants your next book finished. But we heard you might be having a little trouble. So what if we fly you down to New Zealand for free? It’s one of the most inspiring places, perfect conditions for book finishing.”

The brand has also released a fun video to entice the author to join them for a trip across the ditch, teasing “we’ve noticed that between red carpets and talk show interviews, you’re having a bit of trouble finishing your next book…”

Are you @GRRMspeaking ? We thought so. Check out the film we made for you. #BringOnWinter pic.twitter.com/RbnNJTXj5v

— Air New Zealand ✈️ (@FlyAirNZ) May 21, 2019

Qantas’ upgraded A380 takes to the skies

Image: Qantas A380 onboard lounge 5

The first of Qantas’ upgraded Airbus A380s welcomed passengers today, delivering a new level of comfort for customers travelling on the national carrier’s largest aircraft, the airline said in a statement.

The multimillion-dollar upgrade of 12 aircraft includes new seating across expanded Business and Premium Economy cabins and a refresh of the aircraft’s First and Economy seating. The on-board lounge has also been redesigned.

Smarter use of space has created an all premium class upper deck (now occupied by Business and Premium Economy) and an expanded on-board lounge. There are now 30 fewer Economy seats as well as a 27 per cent increase in premium seating.

Singapore Airlines tops 2019 KPMG Australia Customer Experience Excellence Report

Singapore Airlines has been named as the number one business in Australia that excels at customer experience for a second year running, by KPMG.

The 2019 KPMG Customer Experience Excellence Report ranks the top brands that excel in customer experience in Australia, based on a survey of more than 2,500 consumers nationwide.

The report considered 114 local and international brands across nine sectors, against the KPMG Six Pillars of Customer Experience Excellence.

Beijing Daxing International Airport opens

China’s colossal $16 billion airport has opened after a formal presentation by President Xi Jinping last week, just days before the country’s 70th anniversary celebrations.

The airport spans some 700,000 square metres, or 98 football fields, according to Chinese state media outlet China Daily.

Virgin Australia re-brands ‘Happy Hour’ sale

Virgin Australia began their ‘Happy Hour’ sale re-brand last week by kicking off with a first Economy and Business Class fare sale.

Customers were able to travel from Launceston to Melbourne Economy for $87, Brisbane to Sydney Economy for $105, Hobart to Melbourne Business Class for $299, or Brisbane to Newcastle Business Class for $299.

‘Happy Hour – A Sale to Make You Smile’ will run from 4–11pm every Thursday with incredibly cheap fares to different locations around Australia.

Jetstar launches Fly to Japan, Return for FREE sale

The budget airline has launched the epic ‘Fly to Japan, Return for FREE’ sale for fares booked to Tokyo or Osaka.

Fares from Cairns to Osaka start from $299 returning for free, while journeys to Tokyo from Melbourne (Tullamarine), via Gold Coast, start from $508.

Jetstar’s Fly to Japan, Return for Free offer starts at 12:01am AEST Tuesday, 1 October and runs until 11:59pm AEST Thursday, 3 October, unless sold out prior.

Malaysia Airlines opens early bird sale, reveals Northern Winter schedule and new Indonesian routes

Malaysia Airlines has launched its early bird campaign with a bonus side trip offering. Fares start from $1116 via Economy Class or $5,658 via Business Class with the choice to depart from Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney or Perth.

Travellers will need to book between 30 September and 31 October 2019 for travel between 1 April and 31 August 2020 to take advantage of the bonus side trip to explore more of Malaysia and its surrounding islands.

Malaysia Airlines will host additional flights between 27 October 2019 and 28 March 2020 during its northern Winter schedule. These include:

• Melbourne – 3 x additional weekly flights from 16 November 2019 – 29 February 2020
• Sydney – 3 x additional weekly flights from 19 December 2019 – 21 December 2019
• Auckland – 1 x additional weekly flight from 27 October 2019 – 28 March 2020.

The airline has also announced the opening of its new routes to Solo and Pekanbaru, Indonesia, which will operate twice weekly.

Sydney, Brisbane airports now home to exclusive Chivas Brothers Single Malt collection

Chivas Brothers has released its biggest Single Malt collection to date, with the launch of fifteen aged Single Malt Scotch whiskies from four rarely seen, yet highly sought-after Speyside, Scotland distilleries. The collection will be available in select Australian duty-free stores, including Sydney and Brisbane airports.

The Secret Speyside Collection is a carefully curated selection of 18–30-year-old whiskies that herald from four of Speyside’s most elusive distilleries. Each has its own rich and unique history for Single Malt fans to discover, including the vanished distillery of Caperdonich, the pioneering Longmorn distillery, the landmark Glen Keith distillery, and the remote Braes of Glenlivet distillery.

The desirable fifteen-bottle collection consists of three rare Single Malts from each of Glen Keith, Longmorn and Braes of Glenlivet, together with three peated and three unpeated expressions from Caperdonich, which distilled its final Single Malt in 2002, before closing its doors and finally being taken down brick by brick in 2011.

Emirates Flight Catering announces major investment in solar energy

Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC), one of the world’s largest catering operations, has successfully commissioned a state-of-the-art solar power system across its premises, which is expected to deliver an annual reduction of 3 million kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions. This is part of EKFC’s continued investment in infrastructure to improve resource efficiency.

EKFC’s latest initiative supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, in 2015. Under the strategy, the Emirate aims to produce 75 per cent of its energy requirements from clean sources by 2050.

American Airlines offers flights from Dallas-Fort Worth to Haneda International Airport

Next year, getting to downtown Tokyo from the United States will be easier than ever when American Airlines launches new service to Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport (HND) from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Beginning 29 March, American and its Pacific Joint Business partner Japan Airlines will offer a total of five daily flights to HND from four U.S. cities: Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, New York and San Francisco.

United Airlines introduces PlusPoints

United Airlines has introduced PlusPoints, a new upgrade benefit for Premier Platinum and 1K rewards members that creates more opportunities – and more freedom – for upgrades on flights.

Top tier members will receive a bank of points that they can use to upgrade on all flights across United’s global network, where they previously would have used Regional Premier Upgrades (RPU) or Global Premier Upgrades (GPU).

With PlusPoints, members will also be able to access all upgrades through united.com or United’s mobile app, two features that make managing upgrades easier and are unique to United. United is the only global U.S. airline that lets members request all upgrades without making a phone call.